The Big Board-Gaming Catch-All

Played some Catacombs, 7 Wonders, and Shadows Over Camelot last night at Johnvanjim's place with a bunch of other people. Really enjoyed all three; got 7 Wonders recently but hadn't tried it out. Did learn that if my survival comes down to flicking a pog (like in Catacombs) I will not be long for this Earth.

Girlfriend just picked up Quarriors! while we were out shopping. Looks like a lot of fun, and will report back after we give it a try tonight.

shoptroll wrote:

Girlfriend just picked up Quarriors! while we were out shopping. Looks like a lot of fun, and will report back after we give it a try tonight.

My daughter and I play that. She is 10 and it is the perfect amount of strategy for her, and it is starting to give her a taste for these kinds of games. I also got the expansion for Christmas, so we have added that to change things up.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Played some Catacombs, 7 Wonders, and Shadows Over Camelot last night at Johnvanjim's place with a bunch of other people. Really enjoyed all three; got 7 Wonders recently but hadn't tried it out. Did learn that if my survival comes down to flicking a pog (like in Catacombs) I will not be long for this Earth.

We were terrible at that game. I think Johnvanjim had visions of careful strategic play and we were at it like drunk bocce players.

Cragmyre wrote:

My daughter and I play that. She is 10 and it is the perfect amount of strategy for her, and it is starting to give her a taste for these kinds of games. I also got the expansion for Christmas, so we have added that to change things up.

Looks like we have a new addiction Played about 4 or 5 rounds and it was a great experience. We're already talking about the expansions so that means it was a solid purchase in my book.

Purchased Betrayal at House on the Hill with a FLGS gift card I got for Christmas and played our first game the other night. Had a great time, the rules are pretty straightforward and it has oodles of theme. I even ended up being the traitor, but lost to the other three explorers. Who knew that little Brandon Jaspers, age 12, was really the leader of a death cult trying to summon their evil God?

MacBrave wrote:

Purchased Betrayal at House on the Hill with a FLGS gift card I got for Christmas and played our first game the other night. Had a great time, the rules are pretty straightforward and it has oodles of theme. I even ended up being the traitor, but lost to the other three explorers. Who knew that little Brandon Jaspers, age 12, was really the leader of a death cult trying to summon their evil God?

That's a great game, but I expect it's even greater when you're 12. I think I wouldn't have wanted to play anything else, considering how obsessed I was with Mystery Mansion when I was around that age.

MacBrave wrote:

Purchased Betrayal at House on the Hill with a FLGS gift card I got for Christmas and played our first game the other night. Had a great time, the rules are pretty straightforward and it has oodles of theme. I even ended up being the traitor, but lost to the other three explorers. Who knew that little Brandon Jaspers, age 12, was really the leader of a death cult trying to summon their evil God?

I picked that up for $10 years ago at a Toy's 'R' Us sale then I played a copy of it at a game store one night and the other people playing had played it countless times and were just blowing through it and giving me pointers to the point that I didn't feel like I was playing the game at all other than physically rolling dice. My copy has sat unused but I did just purchase Mansions of Madness without really thinking that I already owned the same basic game in Betrayal. I really do love the production value that Fantasy Flight puts into their products so maybe I'll actually get to try out MoM sometime soon and compare even though the comparison won't really be fair.

ChrisGwinn wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Played some Catacombs, 7 Wonders, and Shadows Over Camelot last night at Johnvanjim's place with a bunch of other people. Really enjoyed all three; got 7 Wonders recently but hadn't tried it out. Did learn that if my survival comes down to flicking a pog (like in Catacombs) I will not be long for this Earth.

We were terrible at that game. I think Johnvanjim had visions of careful strategic play and we were at it like drunk bocce players.

*Chuckles* I'm seriously considering tethering the pogs to the table, so no one loses an eye in future play!

I got to see the the Terry Pratchett's Discworld: Ankh-Morpork game played (gave up my seat to my son and his girlfriend) on New Year's Eve. A friend of mine has the English Special Edition. It's gorgeous, and we had a very good time.

We finally did "Christmas" with my brother-in-law's house during the Seahawks game this Sunday and played 10 rounds of Buzzword. For a "mainstream" party game, that was a lot of fun.

My sister-in-law sent us a copy of Ticket to Ride for Christmas this year. Unbeknownst to her we already own a copy. My local game store was super cool and offered to give me full store credit for trading it in even though it was not purchased there. With that and a gift card with a few bucks on it my wife and I spent about an hour browsing their selection for a new game. It was an interesting experience. I pretty much let her decide on what we should get, thinking we'd be more likely to play something if she wanted it. We eventually narrowed it down to 7 Wonders or Commands and Colors: Ancients. Kind of a weird choice, but it was really whether we wanted something for the two of us, which constitutes the vast majority of our play time, or something fairly easy to learn that would work better for the times when we actually have other people to play with.

In the end we decided against 7 Wonders as it probably wouldn't see a lot of play time. (Can you even play this with two people?) We both love playing Memoir 44, so C&C would make a good selection. But then, as we happened past it on the shelf, I pointed out Manoeuvre and how I'd always wanted to try it. To my surprise, after she read the box she decided that would be our choice. Yay me! All said and done the game cost us $1.75 out of pocket.

After two games, we're both really enamored with it. It has all the trappings of a full-on wargame, but is distilled down to a game that plays fast and simply. Wife is happy to be free of the constraints put on her by the sectioned board/cards of M'44. We talked about the differences and agreed they each scratch a different itch. M'44 will stay in our collection, it's very much a fun "beer and pretzels" game as they like to say on BGG. Have a cocktail and you don't have to think too hard. Manoeuvre requires a little more thought. As she discovered in our last game, it's easy to get your units trapped and eliminated if you're not careful.

I suspect this one will see a lot of time on the table this year, replacing the spot previously held by Memoir.

Me and a couple of co-workers cracked a new Risk: Legacy box today at lunch.

The Wars begin tomorrow.

(The intention is to play at lunchtimes. We're all pretty excited; I hope the "Legacy" bits move it enough away from just being Risk.)

fleabagmatt wrote:

In the end we decided against 7 Wonders as it probably wouldn't see a lot of play time. (Can you even play this with two people?)

Yes, but you each have to play a dummy third player. Not recommended, especially for new players. 7 Wonders is the-more-the-merrier.

fleabagmatt wrote:

We both love playing Memoir 44

Could you have your wife talk to my wife, please?

—————

So we went to our FLGS the other week, and I told my wife I wanted to get a LOTR game we could play together (that wouldn't be War of the Ring 2e), and asked her if she wanted co-op or competitive. She said co-op, and it turns out Confrontation was sold out anyway, so there we are. But I'll definitely look at Confrontation if I see it on the shelf.

It was also the Silverline edition of LOTR that we got, which is apparently incompatible with the expansions, so no danger of getting too invested in it. Also, regarding the Silverline rule book: holy crap. Strike that, actually: it's just crap. It's been ten years since I last played LOTR, and it took the new rule book, this copy of the old rules, and the BGG rules forum for LOTR, just to figure it out. I know FFG has a reputation for poor rulebooks, but then so does Knizia for elegant designs, and I've experience with the former but not the latter. Anyway. Should be smooth sailing from here on out.

Gravey wrote:

It was also the Silverline edition of LOTR that we got, which is apparently incompatible with the expansions, so no danger of getting too invested in it. Also, regarding the Silverline rule book: holy crap. Strike that, actually: it's just crap.

Haven't seen the rulebook for the new version, but the old rulebook was dire. We've been playing the game for years, and there are still some rules I don't think we're getting right. Regardless, it's still a favorite and we always have a blast playing it.

Re: expansions for LOTR -- I personally don't care for them, but that's just me. (Actually, I just got a trade for a new base game so I can trade or sell the game plus all expansions as one huge lot -- on that note, anyone want to buy LOTR and all the expansions?)

Wow...LotR, Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, Risk; Legacy, and Manouevre...two games I like very much and two games I'm dying to play. Battle Reports, please!

By the way, Martin Wallace has handed down some changes to A Few Acres of Snow on Boardgamegeek, if anyone cares.

Natus wrote:

By the way, Martin Wallace has handed down some changes to A Few Acres of Snow on Boardgamegeek, if anyone cares.

Thanks for the heads-up, my copy is in the mail as I write this.

DanyBoy wrote:
Natus wrote:

By the way, Martin Wallace has handed down some changes to A Few Acres of Snow on Boardgamegeek, if anyone cares.

Thanks for the heads-up, my copy is in the mail as I write this.

Definitely want to try this out!
I hope to make it to some more Monday night sessions now that the Holidays are over.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:

Me and a couple of co-workers cracked a new Risk: Legacy box today at lunch.

The Wars begin tomorrow.

(The intention is to play at lunchtimes. We're all pretty excited; I hope the "Legacy" bits move it enough away from just being Risk.)

A couple friends and I are cracking my box tonight. Hopefully it won't take us too long to figure out so that we can get a couple rounds in before calling it a night.

Does anyone have any experience with Super Dungeon Explore? It looked really interesting as a cooperative game, but then I heard that 1 player has to be the badguys. That would make it not so great as a 2 player game. Is there realistically any room to modify the rules so the badguy is automated or something?

some other zach wrote:
Chumpy_McChump wrote:

Me and a couple of co-workers cracked a new Risk: Legacy box today at lunch.

The Wars begin tomorrow.

(The intention is to play at lunchtimes. We're all pretty excited; I hope the "Legacy" bits move it enough away from just being Risk.)

A couple friends and I are cracking my box tonight. Hopefully it won't take us too long to figure out so that we can get a couple rounds in before calling it a night.

Looks pretty much like Risk with extra persistent elements. We read through the rules today and the basic gameplay is like a light variation on Risk. It's the next game, and the game after that, and the game after that that look really interesting.

My group had a great experience with our first Risk Legacy game last weekend. When it came to rip up the first card, 2 guys went nuts. They could not fathom it, but by the end of the game they were chomping at the bit to do more. Usually my group is more interested in the game experience and exploring strategies over pure winning. Not this time. Everyone was much more engaged and eager to name a major city. We immediately played again. It was cutthroat, but still friendly if that makes any sense.

Incidentally, it was my first game of any Risk, ever.

I'd definitely like to hear more about how the Risk:Legacy experience is. I refuse to play Risk, but lots of people ask to. If it makes it fun for a gamer like me, then I'd like to know

MitchellW wrote:

I'd definitely like to hear more about how the Risk:Legacy experience is. I refuse to play Risk, but lots of people ask to. If it makes it fun for a gamer like me, then I'd like to know :-D

Mitchell, you are really missing out. The good ones--I can only assume R:L is, though I haven't yet played it--are really light almost Card Driven Wargames. Lots of decisions, chrome, and cards. Try if you are able.

I f*cking hate old Risk. More modern Risks have been much more engaging, but most still fall flat for me. Risk: Legacy though? Pure gold.

I love how simple and quick the early games are, and the slow evolution of the board/factions/rules to add depth and meaning to later conflicts is delicious! Lovely game!

MitchellW wrote:

I'd definitely like to hear more about how the Risk:Legacy experience is. I refuse to play Risk, but lots of people ask to. If it makes it fun for a gamer like me, then I'd like to know :-D

What don't you like about Risk? If you don't like the highly random combat mechanics, then stay away. If you don't like how the games drag on forever, then I'd suggest checking out the 2008 rules revisions.

I discovered the new Risk just last month and raved about it earlier in this thread. Over the holidays I got to show it to a bunch of my old war/board gaming buddies as well as a couple of gaming newbies, and every one of them liked it. Risk is now a fun, light, relatively quick game, and it's almost certainly worth risking (ha!) $15 and a couple of hours to find out if it's for you.

momgamer wrote:

I got to see the the Terry Pratchett's Discworld: Ankh-Morpork game played (gave up my seat to my son and his girlfriend) on New Year's Eve. A friend of mine has the English Special Edition. It's gorgeous, and we had a very good time.

I got to try out Discworld: Ankh-Morpork last night. Very nice game. Mechanics are simple once you understand the icons on the cards, and play flows pretty quickly from player to player. Some nice elements of backstabbing and interacting with other players, plus the random events to throw a real spanner in the works now and again. And as momgamer says it looks stunning, with nice cards, nice board and nice dobbers.

Without knowing it I guessed this was a Martin Wallace game as it is very similar to London. I would say that Discworld is a much improved version of London that corrects the few issues I had with that game (minimal interaction and limited deviation from the build, run, buy strategy). I'm looking forward to playing again, as I think familiarity with the cards and the different win conditions will only help.

Tanglebones and I played Battleship Galaxies on New Year's Eve. Long story short, he kicked my ass, severely. But it was fun and I look forward to playing the other scenarios in the future (we played the first one, which is basically kill everyone). I did come up with a house rule near the end that might be fun. When a ship is destroyed take it's model off the stand and lay it on the board where it died. From then on it's a hulk in space that other ships have to move around. You could also say that it blocks line of sight for ships that are smaller than the derelict ship. So a fighter could hide behind a medium ship to block it from being shot by another ship, but a medium or large ship couldn't hide behind a fighter.

padriec wrote:

Tanglebones and I played Battleship Galaxies on New Year's Eve. Long story short, he kicked my ass, severely. But it was fun and I look forward to playing the other scenarios in the future (we played the first one, which is basically kill everyone). I did come up with a house rule near the end that might be fun. When a ship is destroyed take it's model off the stand and lay it on the board where it died. From then on it's a hulk in space that other ships have to move around. You could also say that it blocks line of sight for ships that are smaller than the derelict ship. So a fighter could hide behind a medium ship to block it from being shot by another ship, but a medium or large ship couldn't hide behind a fighter.

I developed an early range advantage. I didn't know all the rules, but I took deep advantage of the few I could figure out

Does Board Game Geek have a general RSS feed? If so where would it be? I need a new line of newsy-fix for my Google Reader.

Tanglebones wrote:
padriec wrote:

Tanglebones and I played Battleship Galaxies on New Year's Eve. Long story short, he kicked my ass, severely. But it was fun and I look forward to playing the other scenarios in the future (we played the first one, which is basically kill everyone). I did come up with a house rule near the end that might be fun. When a ship is destroyed take it's model off the stand and lay it on the board where it died. From then on it's a hulk in space that other ships have to move around. You could also say that it blocks line of sight for ships that are smaller than the derelict ship. So a fighter could hide behind a medium ship to block it from being shot by another ship, but a medium or large ship couldn't hide behind a fighter.

I developed an early range advantage. I didn't know all the rules, but I took deep advantage of the few I could figure out ;)

Almost forgot: YOU SANK MY SPACE BATTLESHIP!